1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to the area of electronic commerce. Particularly, the present invention is related to a mobile device configured to settle payments using a mobile device reading electronic bills or invoices off from another mobile device in a near field communication range.
2. The Background of Related Art
For many credit or debit card transactions, the payment process is started by a customer asking for a bill when checking out a purchase. A cashier or service member brings a bill to the customer for verification. The customer then hands out a credit/debit card to the service staff member. The service member brings the card to a Point of Sales (POS) counter to initiate a transaction payment. The service member then brings back a receipt to the customer for signature to authorize the transaction. It is a lengthy process that typically takes a couple of minutes or much longer when the service member has to take care of multiple payment transactions at a time. In addition, in the case for the debit card transactions, the process may be even more troublesome when a PIN is needed to authorize the transaction at the POS.
There is a need to simplify the payment process. With the advancement in mobile devices, it is anticipated that many consumers will carry one with them. Thus there is an opportunity of using a mobile device to quickly settle the payment at a point of sale (POS).